' GARRICK. 'Sheridan has
too much vanity to be a good man.' We shall now see Johnson's mode of
DEFENDING a man; taking him into his own hands, and discriminating.
JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. There is, to be sure, in Sheridan, something to
reprehend, and every thing to laugh at; but, Sir, he is not a bad man.
No, Sir; were mankind to be divided into good and bad, he would stand
considerably within the ranks of good. And, Sir, it must be allowed
that Sheridan excels in plain declamation, though he can exhibit no
character.'
Mrs. Montagu, a lady distinguished for having written an Essay on
Shakspeare, being mentioned; REYNOLDS. 'I think that essay does her
honour.' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir: it does HER honour, but it would do nobody
else honour. I have, indeed, not read it all. But when I take up the end
of a web, and find it packthread, I do not expect, by looking further,
to find embroidery. Sir, I will venture to say, there is not one
sentence of true criticism in her book.' GARRICK. 'But, Sir, surely it
shews how much Voltaire has mistaken Shakspeare, which nobody else has
done.
Pages:
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362